I am going to throw this out there into the community because I have a requirement which does not seem to be possible from my research so far, though I find this incredible.

What I would like to do is have a laser printer which is to be used in our company to print out a fire list of all on-site employees in the event of a fire. This printer will need to be protected against power outages in case the fire knocks out the building's power.

Currently, we have an inkjet printer with a built in battery that performs this task, but as we all know, inkjet printers are not the most reliable - even if it is just that the users misfeed the paper!!

I have been looking for a laser printer equivalent but so far have had no joy sourcing one!

Additionally, I have also looked for independent UPS units that can run a laser printer (~700W power consumption) but without spending thousands, this doesn't seem to be possible and is certainly not recommended!

Does anyone have any similar requirements and if so, have you found any suitable solutions?

This all sounds extremely simple, but finding a solution has so far been a nightmare!

24 Replies

I would look at buying a modern small networked laser that has low power consumption (look at the tech specs) and couple this with a decent APC UPS with the runtime you require. I have never seen a printer with a battery backup before (except a couple of portable HP inkjets).

This will save you a lot of money and will cost you hundreds and not thousands. You would have a spend a lot to get a UPS that can handle 700W continious load.

Before you spend out any money get a spare UPS and run the monitoring software on a PC attached to it. Connect the printer to the UPS to get the actual load. You might be able to get away with a smaller UPS than you think...

It's funny... we had a power outage recently and obviously this exact subject was brought up after it happening.

Be good to see what suggestions we come up with.

At the moment if the fire alarm goes off our time and attendance system prints a list of people who are here but I'd like it to do that if the power goes off too.
Don't have a printer though with battery backup, was thinking about putting a UPS on it, however the printer sits in the corner of the canteen and although people don't touch it through fear of death, I think putting a UPS there may just put temptation a little too high.

There must be a laser printer out there somewhere with battery backup and it would be good to find!

....What I would like to do is have a laser printer which is to be used in our company to print out a fire list of all on-site employees in the event of a fire....

"fire list"?

If emergency & disaster support personnel is meant, it is standard practice to have a hard copy and soft copy immediately on hand as part of the "emergency supplies kit". If and when revisions are made, the copy(s) are updated accordingly. Necessarily, all managers an supervisors would need know where this emergency information is kept. Finding time, people, and a safe zone to print is not practical in an emergency.

Local fire department and law enforcement might have some form of certifiable emergency training. It is available in the states for those who seek it.

Should it be insisted to pursue to poor practice, generators and a command center(s) would be a marginally viable course. It is not uncommon for generators to produce "noisy" power which needs conditioning for electronic/computer use, hence a quality power conditioner ought be in-line for the plug(s).

Hard copy hung up near the fire exits and/or in the evacuation staff office vicinity would surely be the best way forward.

What happens if the printer is low on toner, no paper or having maintenance performed on it? I also presume you'll be using a document box to store this file, so does EVERYONE know how to get this list off the printer?

But in a factory environment when you have different shifts etc. You need a list only of those currently on site, not just every employee.

Vee.Hexx wrote:

Sounds like your trying to reinvent the wheel.

Hard copy hung up near the fire exits and/or in the evacuation staff office vicinity would surely be the best way forward.

What happens if the printer is low on toner, no paper or having maintenance performed on it? I also presume you'll be using a document box to store this file, so does EVERYONE know how to get this list off the printer?

While this doesn't answer the question, I can see the other side of the coin. I have a few clients that have a hazardous work environment (petroleum and chemicals). If something disastrous happens and there is an "event", it is vital to get an accurate and up to date muster list of all employees on site. This muster list is then matched against the employees at the defined muster points. If there is not a 1 to 1 match then someone is still inside the facility. This gives the first responders and fire department an idea if someone is still in the facility and to go searching for them. If everyone is accounted for then there is no need to risk life searching for someone that "might be" in the facility. A static list will not help here.

Back to the point of the post: This is a tough request, since no only do you need to power the printer, but everything between the database and the printer must remain functional for the duration of the print. You can get a relatively inexpensive UPS ($250 USD) that will power the laser printer for a period of time. This run time should be calculated at (3 times) the time it takes to print your current muster list.

I often wonder if sending a muster list to an off site mail system would be a option then you could pickup this list with any smartphone.

But in a factory environment when you have different shifts etc. You need a list only of those currently on site, not just every employee.

Vee.Hexx wrote:

Sounds like your trying to reinvent the wheel.

Hard copy hung up near the fire exits and/or in the evacuation staff office vicinity would surely be the best way forward.

What happens if the printer is low on toner, no paper or having maintenance performed on it? I also presume you'll be using a document box to store this file, so does EVERYONE know how to get this list off the printer?

what if that printer is the cause of fire - ooh the ironicy!

Ensure a hard copy exists, and be done with it.

the factories i've worked in (albeit, smaller ones, and it was more 24h warehouse op, than factory), everyone knows the people who are the named contact; be it fire wardens, first aid, or whatever else - so in *GENERAL* people won't always need to refer to a list for who to look for.

surely shifts are worked out a good few weeks/month in advance, or they repeat patterns every x weeks. cant you draw up a static document, laminate it and have a 'we're on week X shift' in dry marker pen?

To my mind, relying on anything electronic for this is a very bad idea. if it can fail it will at the time your most reliant on.

if you have a blackout, then some areas will also loose mobile/cell phone coverage (my house has in the past), so you may not be able to rely on mobile devices to access offsite data sources.

It used to be that laser printers weren't recommended to be put on a UPS because of the load they put on it when they heat up. So, even if this has changed, there's still a number of problems here. First, the printer would probably be offline, so it needs to power up, spool up and print. All this on battery power.

Strictly from printer point of view, an impact printer would be the best bet. I'd rate them more reliable than inkjets.

But also, I agree with the other points. Fire alarm rings, is someone going to stay behind to print the list? Where's the printer located? Will the list be left at the printer, to be burned, or will that someone have to go and get it, risking their lives?

Thermal paper, in a building that may be on fire - can't see that working too well.

This is a real catch-22, as others have said - who is going to wait for the printout? Tablets, or remote web site may be an option, but what if your comms have gone down (a distinct possibility). If it must be printed, and by the sounds of your shift pattern, id does seem like the best option, make sure your printer is in reception, next to the front door where you can get out quick if you need to. Any printer will do, inkjet, dot matrix, or laser, all are liable to jam.

Don't you find it amusing when you post your requirements and a bunch of people who know nothing about your situation tell you that you don't need to do that?

A small laser printer on an appropriate UPS that can be counted on to print this one document at a moment's notice might only have to do this once - and it might save someone's life. It doesn't have to be a lot of money. Spend it. Think about a redundant system in a second location.

If all this is being printed, a soft copy necessarily needs exist. That copy should be accessible for emergency purposes—smartphone, tablet, etc.

Would still think a proper generator and designated command center would be required.

I have been underground in my geology days and mines take care of this issue with a brass tag with your name on it. The tags are kept on board in a room that everyone goes through before going underground. On one side of the board the “out brass” for all the employees from any shift are hanging. On the on other side of the board are “in brass” When you are going underground you move your “brass” from the out to the in side of the board and reverse the process when coming out and only YOU touch your “brass”. This way in an emergency there is no need for a roll call printing lists etc. Just look at the in side of the board and you know if anyone is left in the mine. I think I have seen this used at refineries.

Dot matrix - reliable until you discover that the ribbon has dried up and no-one noiticed because the printer is never used or tested. However with weekly testing (as with the fire alarm?) then this would be a good solution!

If you just want a list of all on-site employees, print the list to a PDF and email the PDF to all the manager's smart devices. The managers will get the PDF almost anywhere, and they don't have to want for a print out while the the building is burning up around them.

1st Post

Use a dot matrix printer on an UPS. They are reliable and low power. Don't need any warm up time, etc.

Have it print a list automatically at defined times, such as 15 minutes after a shift starts, etc. Then have the system automatically print an updated list when the fire system triggers it.

By using this scenario, you will have at least a current list as of 15 minutes after a start of the shift in the event that the system was unable to print the most current list due to the possibility the communications link between the systems has been damaged.

You can also have the system email a copy of the report to a group of emails (such as supervisors) so that there is another soft copy somewhere. I would imagine this would be feasible because the printed document had to come from somewhere, right?

I realize there is a cost involved of having a list printed all the time, however, the cost of a few boxes of continuous form paper and some ribbon will be well less than the cost of a life in the event of an emergency.

If it was me I'd have 2 or 3 or more (depending on the building) cheap inkjets or dot-matrix as already mentioned on cheap UPS's all set to print on the event.

Low cost and redundant.

Also, emailing a list as already mentioned is a good idea. I really like the idea of emailing or printing or whatever after the shift start AND on the event of a fir because that email may not make it or that print job may not make it if the fire were to sever communications to the internet or the printer.

Thanks to all for some really constructive ideas and responses to my question.

I can't reply to all, but on a general level, there is absolutely no way we could get away with a static system. We have several shift changes where some employees from a previous shift regularly stay and do overtime. Also, we have many office staff who leave the building on business not to mention break times etc. All these movements are tracked by our time and attendance system meaning in the event of a fire alert we can say, reasonably confidently, that we have accounted for everyone - provided we can access this list. To just ignore this accurate data would be crazy, IMO.

We have 2 printers that print this list, which is triggered by our Receptionist(s) in the building's reception area. All they have to do is key in a 3 digit number into a clock in terminal as they leave the building. One of these is a battery backed up inkjet which is very basic and unreliable, hence this post. The other is upstairs and is brought down with the fire warden for that area.

I like the idea of the report being sent automatically to an external email account. This is definitely something worth pursuing - maybe also some cheap tablet devices for accessing this information. The challenge there though would be ensuring all fire wardens have these devices during the evacuation. Still, it is a possibility.

People also mentioned the need to keep the link between the server hosting the database and the printer intact. This is of course a valid comment. We have bulky UPS's in the server room that keep our servers running for a limited amount of time. It all depends on the nature and location of any fire. It is impossible to protect against every eventuality.

Anyway, this discussion so far seems to have confirmed my suspicion that laser printers and batteries don't mix, unfortunately!